⠀ ❝ And in the back of her mind, Katie knew that her words were a lie. Because if her nightmares could creep up into her mind and become her reality, she would be damned if this Remus Lupin - his lips, his hands, his ragged breath, his willing rec...
[ "No, actually, she died 16 years ago," he said. His voice was as full of rawness as she'd ever heard it. ]
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"You saw what?"
"A wedding photo," Katie said with a hitch. She ran her hands through her hair, a piece of it sticking out slightly at the back of her head. "Jesus, James. It looked just like us, I can't even begin to explain it."
James' brows furrowed, his lips tilting downwards in a grimace. "Please don't. I'm not keen on having something else to plague my nightmares."
"I found something too. In his trunk," Remus said, his arms crossed as he leaned against his bed post. "It was a baby blanket. A blue one."
"A ... baby blanket?" Katie blinked her eyes rapidly, shaking her head as she stumbled on her words. She wiped her hands over her eyes, pulling at her cheeks. "Jesus, fuck. What does that even mean?"
The room went silent. James was biting his nails anxiously. Katie was sitting slumped with her head buried in her hands. Sirius had his brows furrowed, Remus' lips were drawn into a frown, Lily sat stiffly in a chair next to James, and Peter was coming in and out of consciousness from the antidote Tolbert had forced him to take.
"We broke into his office for answers, and instead we get even more questions," James said with a sigh as he rubbed his temples.
Sirius shook his head. "Yeah, like being married to Kate's mum and possibly having a chil—"
"Don't finish that sentence," Katie mumbled, peeking out from behind her hands.
Remus glanced at her, worry dancing in his eyes. "Hey we don't know any of that for sure."
"Well that sure as hell is what it looks like!" Katie burst out, her voice cracking. The rest of the room stared at her warily. After a few moments, her breathing slowed. "I'm sorry it's just a lot to take in. I didn't mean to yell like that," she said, her shoulders slumping dejectedly.
Lily stood from where she was sitting and came to sit next to Katie, cradling her head against her shoulder. Katie's breathing evened out as she melted against Lily.
"Katie, I think it's time you ask your mum for some answers," Peter said, groggily, his eyes still halfway closed.
"I don't want to find out like this," she breathed out. "If my mother's been keeping a whole other life from me, I don't want to have to find out from a .. from a letter."
The room eased into the silence, the gears of everyone's brain seemingly audible through the thick tension.
James broke the silence first, his shoulders hanging dejectedly. "What do you want to do then?"
